Falling for Change Draco x Hermione
by animalsrule1
Summary: A simple dare swings Hermione's entire life in a new, confusing direction.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable characters or settings.

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It was lunch, and only the second day of Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts. The excitement from the first years was radient, she could hear the chatter and laughs. Not that returnees were also overjoyed to be back at the beautiful school, they were just as loud and excited, finding old friends, catching up, everything was just good. She was sitting in between Ron and Ginny, with Harry across from Ron. Lavender and Parvati were sitting across from Hermione as well. Here parents had encouraged her to make new friends this year, leave her comfort zone, so that's what she had been attempting to do. The boys were caught up in an in depth conversation about Quidditch, while Hermione tried to keep up with the giggly girls who surrounded her. She was so bad at this. No wonder she'd always gotten along better with Ron and Harry.

Suddenly Ginny spun to face Hermione. Her face was lit up and she was laughing. "Truth or dare Mi?" She exclaimed excitedly. Sadly, the brunette was a bit clueless as to what they'd been scheming, so, she foolishly chose dare expecting something innocent. Maybe a 'eat ten of these' or 'take something from the boy's dorm'. That was what usually happened in this game, right? She hadn't ever played. That didn't happen.

Ginny leaned over the table, and huddled together with Lavender and Parvati, the trio now aflutter with whispers. Suddenly Hermione had a wretched feeling in the pit of her stomach, unable to hear what they were saying in the noisy Great Hall. Knowing these girls, and those expressions, this couldn't be a good thing. But then they all faced her once again. The bad feeling and butterflies remained firmly planted in her stomach.

"We dare you to... Kiss Draco Malfoy. Right here, right now." Ginny said calmly, a mischievous grin on her lips.

"What? No! Everyone would see! He'll freak out! Come on Gin, are you serious?" The girl pleaded nervously, casting a glance at the silver blond across the Hall. She would easily admit that he was handsome, not shy about it, but he was an ass. She didn't blame him for it, thinking it was mostly a result of bad parenting, but still. Why would she want to kiss the schoolyard bully? Although, maybe that was the point of a dare, taking you out of your comfort zone. It seemed to fit with her goals this year.

"Deadly serious. Go." Ginny urged, pushing her gently out of her seat. It wasn't hard to notice that once she stood and walked off, Ginny had told Harry and Ron to watch, not telling what would happen. Hermione was slightly afraid of her friends' reactions, but was sure they'd understand it was just a dare.

 _Screw it. It's a new year. It's not like it's outlawed for students to kiss. Just get it over with and run back._ Hermione thought nervously, _Or run screaming from the Great Hall. That'd work too._

Suddenly, all to fast, she was standing behind him. She tapped his shoulder gently. "Malfoy, stand up for a second." This was not going to end well, and she knew it, but by now it was too late. She was already there, and this was happening wether she was ready or not. She summoned up her famous Gryffindore courage and took a deep breath.

He spun, glaring at Hermione with those pretty grey eyes, an eyebrow raised. "What do you want mudblood?" He growled, standing anyways. Why, she'd never know, maybe it was just morbid curiosity. Either way, he was now out of his seat, glaring down at the girl, his entire table focused on them to see what would happen.

Draco was nearly six feet, and her a meager 5'5', so she had to get him to lean down some how. Suddenly, her hand reached out, like it had a mind of its own, grabbing his green and silver tie and pulling it downwards sharply. At the same time, she stood on her tiptoes. Apparently, the poor Slytherin hadn't been expecting this, and was off balance enough to lean down towards her.

Then, they were really close. Hermione had a spilt second to think, she closed her eyes, and then they were kissing. The girl hadn't expecting much, maybe a quick peck on the lips before he pushed her away and shouted insults, but once again, her intuition betrayed her. Obviously Malfoy was stunned, but after he'd figured out what was happening, she felt on hand wrap around to her lower back, pushing the two close together, very close, her whole body pressed against Draco Malfoy of all people, the other one grabbing the back of her head.

It was different. She wasn't supposed to like kissing her main source of grief for the last few years, but she did. He was warm, although maybe that was just here, obviously blushing, her entire body getting warmer than usual, even in the warm school robes. For some reason, she was smiling, seeming to forget that this wasn't supposed to be enjoyable.

They spent a good minute fighting for control of the kiss, trying to get closer to each other. While keeping a hand around his tie, Hermione's other hand found it's way around his neck, taking a handful of his silky robes, pulling him down towards her even farther. This was rough, and passionate and hungry, and not what she had expected to happen. His hands roamed, and she didn't even feel the need to stop them, even with the entire Hall watching. Then, with a screech, Pansy Parkinson leaped up from her seat, forcing the two apart. Apparently she'd been in shock, just staring the entire time they'd been kissing.

"What the hell was that Granger? You've gone crazy!" The girl's shill voice exclaimed, almost making Hermione clasp her hands over her ears. But, all Pansy got in return was a shrug, and a playful smirk sent at Draco as she went back to the Gryffindore table.

Silence. Dead quiet. No one said a word, anywhere.

The object of all their stares quietly took her seat again, as if nothing had happened. The butterflies were gone, and the stares didn't even register in her mind. Hermione was on a high from that kiss, and honestly nothing else mattered. Eventually the kids stated whispering, and then speaking once again. The professors sat in stunned silence, even they were staring, open mouthed, at the Gryffindore Princess.

Then the girls beside her squealed. Ginny hugged her shoulders, and Lavender grabbed her hands across the table. A glance to her left told poor Hermione that the boys were none too happy with her antics.

"Was he a good kisser?" Lavender asked.

"They call him the sex god of Slytherin, was it that good?" Ginny whispered, acting scandalized. Of course that's all she cared about.

"It looked awesome, I was not expecting that." Parvati said breathlessly.

Before Hermione had a chance to answer, the other two thirds of the Golden Trio piped up.

"What the hell 'Mione?! Why'd you kiss the ferret?" Ron exclaimed, his eyes bugging out of his scull.

"Malfoy? Really? Were you _trying_ to make a scene?" Harry asked, looking just dumbstruck. Apparently they still hadn't been filled in on the fact that this was a dare.

The poor girl was coming down from her high, and the blush from her kiss was increasing even more with all the attention. Maybe that hadn't really been thought through. But it was sure as hell fun, and left her totally breathless, not what she'd expected from a kiss with Malfoy. Hermione, didn't bother answering, just let all her friends chatter away as she stole a glance at the boy she'd just snogged in front of the whole school. He was being violently scolded by Pansy, who was yelling, and even slapped his shoulders a few times.

Draco payed her no mind, staring right back at Hermione. And she liked it. She liked the fact that he was staring at her. Why?

* * *

Lunch had eventually ended, and Hermione had went through her afternoon classes painfully aware as everyone whispered and stared and pointed at her when they thought she wasn't looking. She tried her hardest to stay focused in class, and was failing miserably. It was supposed to be a dare, kiss and be done with it, but she couldn't get him off her mind.

His stormy silver eyes, that upon closer inspection were filled with little blue flecks of all shades. His platinum blond hair was surprisingly soft and silky, now that he had stopped gelling his hair back ridiculously. He smelled amazing, and not that she'd ever imagined it, but he smelled different than she could've ever expected. An intoxicating mix of vanilla and a few other things she couldn't quite name off the top of her head. Malfoy was also more muscular than she had imagined, hidden beneath his robes, probably the effects of playing Quidditch for four years. With a small sigh, she spaced out again.

The the bell rang, alerting Hermione to the fact that she'd dreamed her way through _another_ class. Well done. She gathered her book and quills and notes, stuffing them all in her bag and rushing out into the hallway before her professor could asked her why she hadn't been paying attention, because honestly, she didn't have a good answer. After moving about 100 yards down the hallway, she paused to check her schedule, caught off guard when someone slammed into her, pushing the small girl towards the wall. She barely had time to register what was happening.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione exclaimed, managing to look up just as her back was pushed against the wall, someone's arms on either side of her head blocking her escape. The face of her assailant revealed that he was none other than Draco Malfoy, his eyes narrowed. He looked annoyed, probably about to yell, and she had a feeling that she knew what this was about.

"What the hell was that stunt you pulled at lunch?" Draco asked firmly. She could see quite well that there was no way out of this conversation. Even so, she tried turnig away, but he was firmly planted, his arms not moving an inch. With a sigh, she turned back to face him, leaning heavily on the wall.

Even if he wasn't touching her, he was extremely close, making it very hard for her to focus. "It was a dare Malfoy. Don't let it go to your head." She managed to say, barely able to breathe. There was a huge blush spreading across her cheeks, the light shade of pink making her look adorable. Her brown eyes couldn't manage to meet his grey ones, and there was a slight flutter in her voice. For some reason she really wanted him to touch her. Really, really wanted that. But it was conflicting. He was Draco, her main tormentor, obviously she didn't want him to touch her. Right?

He raised an eyebrow, apparently not totally convinced. She worried that he had picked up on her body language. "So this doesn't affect you at all?" He taunted, moving closer so that his body now pressed against hers and his hand rested on her hip. "Are you sure Granger?" He whispered in her ear. His voice was low and softy, somewhat gravelly, and his face was so close.

Honestly she almost melted, knees literally going weak. If the wall hadn't been there, she would have collapsed. "Not at all. And I've got class soon Draco."

There was a triumphant smirk, whether he'd felt her got weak, or seen her start sweating, or noticed that she called him 'Draco' for the first time, or all of the above, the Slytherin was now convinced Hermione was attracted to him. He suddenly stepped back, removing his hand and walking away. "See you around." He called. She had a feeling this wasn't over.

The curly haired girl took a second to steady her breathing, almost sad that his warmth had suddenly left her alone in this drafty hallway. But, either way, she scurried off to class, late for the first time ever.

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 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! Please review, it means so much to me whether it's constructive criticism or complements or even requests for a future chapter. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable characters or settings.

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Hermione had struggled through her afternoon classes, and had skipped dinner, not wanting to deal with the whispers _or_ see the obnoxious boy she now couldn't get out of her head. It was ridiculous. Obviously she didn't have feelings for him. He didn't feel anything either, Draco must've been toying with her, that's all. He was trying to throw her off. At least this is what she tried to convince herself all day. Her head was foggy, in the literal sense. Everytime her thoughts drifted back to Craco, her eyes glazed over and her focus was completely lost.

She was not going to be one of his lovestruck followers. And she didn't have a crush on him. He wasn't even her type. Obviously. Okay, maybe she was a little bit attracted to the blond, tall, muscular, ugh. This was getting ridiculous. Her feelings were complicated. One part of her wanted to walk up and slap him silly for all those years of torment, something she'd done once before, but wouldn't mind doing again, the other wanted to make out with him in the halls, in front of everyone, or maybe in a broom closet somewhere. Her feelings were at war, and she didn't know how to fix it.

She grabbed her head in frustration, now in her dorm, and collapsed into bed, trying to force these evil thoughts out of her head. She never should have taken that stupid dare. Now the whole school was whispering, Draco had another thing to torment her about, and she was _thinking_ about him in a way she shouldn't be.

Then she suddenly stood up, a wonderful idea occurring to the young witch. She threw on a golden tank top, and red fuzzy pajama pants, and went to sit at the desk that resided in her room with parchment, ink and a quill. No one else was using it, so she figured it'd be fine. In typical Hermione fashion, she was about to make a pros and cons list about dating, or even having a fling with Draco Malfoy. This would surely fix her mind, and make these thoughts leave. Logic and reason could fix any problem.

 **Pros:**  
\- He's handsome. Very much so.  
\- He smells good.  
\- He's adorable when he smirked.  
\- Even though he's never been very nice to Hermione, he seems nice enough to his friends.  
\- He's probably not totally evil.  
\- He is a great kisser.  
\- He seemed attracted to her as well.

 **Cons:**  
\- Her friends would lose their marbles. (Possible pro, if wanted)  
\- He hated her (possibly).  
\- He hated her friends.  
\- He made her life hell on a daily basis.  
\- His parents were very, very evil.  
\- She hated his friends.  
\- He might be dating Pansy. (Unproven)

Well, the lists were even. And many of the cons may not even be true/might not be a con. That she hadn't expected. This was supposed to help, not make it worse. She groaned, ripping up the sheet of parchment, throwing it violently in the garbage, and going to bed in a huff. The girl curled up under the blankets and hid, silently praying for sleep and stewing in her misfortune.

* * *

Hermione woke up in the morning, early, and immediately ran to the shower, turning the water on. Cold. She stripped and got in the freezing shower as if that would help her issue. Why had she chosen to shove herself into an icy shower? Well, that would probably have something to do with the horrific dreams of the night before. Although, maybe they weren't all that horrific... Ah! More cold water.

She'd dreamed of Draco Malfoy, very vivid dreams, all night long. Things that they had done that went way past her kiss in the Great Hall, way, way past. Hermione Granger was losing her mind, and it was not going to be okay if this continued in similar fashion. It was getting to be ridiculous. She had to find some way to hate him again. The poor Gryffindore was trying to think of something else, anything else. One of her classes maybe? Hell, she'd rather be thinking about Divination than Malfoy.

Eventually, the shower had to end, for fear of Hermione freezing to death and being unable to finish the school year. She stepped out, wrapping a red and gold towel around herself, one that had been enchanted with a warming charm, around her body. A quick glance in the mirror showed that her lips were blue. Out just in time it seemed. She headed back towards her bed, quickly throwing on her school uniform, glancing at the small clock she kept beside her bed as she did so. 5:30 AM. Great.

Breakfast started at 7:30, classes at 8:30. What was she to do until then? Usually Hermione let herself sleep until 6:30, then studied until breakfast. Getting a head start on studying, especially this early into the schoolyear could be helpful, but she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Suddenly, she realized that sleeping meant risking more dreams. She grabbed her bag so fast it was a bit frightening, and dashed out of the dorm room, running towards the library as if she could outrun her thoughts. Thank goodness no one else was awake yet, or a collision with the speeding Hermione could have been extremely painful.

Of course, it didn't work, the back of her mind still trying to force the image of his surprised grey eyes, just as they were about to kiss, into the forefront of her mind. She opened the library door, grabbing a random book off the shelf and curling up in a dark corner of the Hogwarts library. It turned out to be about Potions, her least adept subject, so, all in all, a good research opportunity.

It seemed to help, slowly the cancerous thoughts drifted away and she was completely focused on her reading. It seemed that she had only been reading for a few minutes when the bell rang, announcing that breakfast would start soon. Glancing down, she realized that her book was actually nearly finished. Hermione stood, absolutely starving, and stopped by the librarian's desk to check out the book she'd been reading so that she could finish. As she walked, slowly her mind was invaded again with her dreams, and all the things she liked about him.

It was a five minute walk before she arrived at the Great Hall. Everyone stopped speaking to stare at her, and now the sound of her feet meeting the stone beneath was deafeningly loud. Her head was down, almost believing that if she couldn't see them, the others couldn't see her either, she was also trying desperately to hide her blush that had appeared when all eyes turned to her. She settled down next to Ron and Ginny, and eventually conversation started back up. Hermione had wanted to do new things and meet new people this year, but this was all too much.

She ate in silence, pushing food around her plate, even as Ginny rubbed her back and tried to apologize. She only looked up once, glancing across the hall to see if a certain Slytherin was doing anything interesting. He seemed to be drinking in all the attention, a smug expression on his face, but just for a minute he looked in her direction. Their eyes met and she looked away, hoping he hadn't noticed her. She didn't want him to anymore. She just wanted him to go away so she could go back to being Hermione, not this strange girl who dreamed about the 'bad boy' all day and night. She didn't want to be that girl.

The minute she was finished with her food, she stood and left the Great Hall, wanting to just stand against the wall for a minute, feeling the cool stone against her back, away from prying eyes, and away from Draco Malfoy. Everything was suddenly so complicated in her simple little life. Her life used to consist of studying, talking with Harry and Ron, doing research, eating and sleeping. Now she was developing, not feelings, but something for the obnoxious school bully, having trouble sleeping, not focusing in class, and if she wasn't careful her grades would start to slip. Her life was being turned upside down, and she didn't like change.

The girl just took a minute to compose herself, trying to breathe deeply and dispel the anxious knot that had formed deep in her belly, and walked off towards her first class, figuring that an early start certainly wouldn't hurt anything.

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 **A/N:** Hello! I've already written a few chapters, and so decided to post this one early in honor of my first review ever! Thank you so much for your kind words, they haven't fallen on deaf ears. Anyways, enjoy the story, let me know if you have any requests or ideas, or if you simply want to let me know how the story is so far. Not sure how long it'll be yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be lengthy, so grab a mug of cocoa and read on my friends! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't any recognizable characters or settings.

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She had gone through her classes that day the same as yesterday afternoon's. Distracted. Hermione barely heard one word out of the professors' mouths, simply sitting at her desk, head in hand, day dreaming about a Slytherin. It was all very un-Hermione like, and she recognized that. Dreaming the day away was not how she planned to spend her week, but apparently, that was in store for her.

Taking her free period after lunch as an excuse to hide in the library and try and catch up on that day's lessons, she was perfectly settled at an out of the way table, completely focused on the reading material before her, that is, until she smelled something very familiar, and someone sat beside her. Her peripheral vision picked up the tell-tale green tie, and she immediately knew who this was.

"Do you need something Draco? I'm a little busy." Hermione said, glad that there was a foot of space between them. This, at least allowed her some semblance of a thought process. The brunette hadn't even bothered to look up. Maybe if she seemed uninterested he'd go away.

A small chuckle, although maybe it was just a scoff. "I don't need anything. Can't a guy just sit and read, _Hermione_?" He asked, adding extra stress on her name. She could guess that if she looked over, he would have a huge smirk on his face. Obviously, this was a huge joke to him. A game.

Even so, the fact that he'd said her name... The butterflies were back, good ones this time. Although, the butterflies were there because of Draco, so maybe they really weren't all that good. Also, it was nice to hear him call her first name. Not 'mudblood', not 'Granger', just Hermione. She'd never heard him say it before. "But why are sitting here? You hate me." she replied flatly, still refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking up.

"I don't hate you. Sure, I think I'm better than you, but I don't hate you." He replied simply.

This caused her to look up and look at him with wide eyes. "You don't?" she asked incredulously. Not that she cared, because she didn't but still. That discovery, was... Astonishing.

"Nope." The blond replied, and now he was the one focused on his book, not looking at her. Obviously, this conversation was over.

Not sure what else could be added, Hermione turned back to her research, only half focused now. Draco didn't hate her. Sure it didn't mean much, but still. Maybe there was a chance, no, what was she thinking? She didn't want a chance of something happening between the two of them. Or did she? All Hermione knew of the Slytherin was his front, a rich jerk who picked on others, but everyone had sides, there are no one dimensional personalities, there has to be something more there than the shallow exterior everyone saw. Now the question was, did she really want to know what that was?

This had to be one for the history books, either way. A Gryffindore and a Slytherin, both sworn enemies, sitting next to each other, studying, having a semi-civil conversation. What was this world coming to?

Once again, time flew by, reading tended to do that, even if she was completely distracted by the person next to her. When the bell rang once again, she stood, putting the book in her bag and getting ready to leave. Draco seemed to be doing the same, but much slower. She nodded at him quickly, not bothering with a real goodbye, then started towards her next class.

Suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist, causing the Gryffindore girl to spin and look back at Draco. "So, I-" he started, not looking her in the eye, "Nevermind. See you later Hermione." He said quickly, grumbling the last part and dropping her wrist. She decided it was smart not to pry, so just gave him a look, and then headed off towards Transfiguration. Mind whirling.

* * *

Nothing interesting had really happened the next two days. More dreaming of someone she did not want to be dreaming about, more being distracted during classes and conversations. She had decided to go home Saturday and visit her mother, see if she could shed any light on the situation at hand. It wasn't something she did often, usually just a Christmas break, but this was definitely a special circumstance.

She woke up early Saturday, wanting to make sure she could get there, talk for a while, and leave, getting back before curfew. Quickly putting on her favorite pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and red hoodie. Making sure not to forget shoes, something she'd done more than once, Hermione put on her sneakers and then walked out into the common room. She was going to apparate.

Yes, it was very hard, but she'd been doing extremely well in class, and figured that a try wouldn't hurt anything. If anyone could do it, Hermione could do it. So with a quick turn on her heel, there was a loud pop. She knew that she was going somewhere, it had worked, but wasn't sure it was the right place.

The poor girl ended up apparating inside her parents' house, about four feet above the ground. There was a large thud as she fell onto the carpet beneathe her. But, hey, baby steps, she'd arrived! She made it to her parents' house! Before she could do anything, her mother was beside her, fretting softly like a mother hen, trying her best to help the newly arrived Hermione to her feet. It seemed that nothing was broken or even sprained, so she stumbled to a standing position.

Immediately, she was pulled into a hug, a soft hand trying to smooth down her bushy hair. It was as if she hadn't seen her mother for months. "Hermione, I didn't know you were coming today sweetheart. I would have set something up!"

"No, I-I just wanted to talk to you today mom." She said hastily, not wanting to get sucked up into some big trip, or shopping or something like that. It always happened with her mother, and although Hermione knew that she was just trying to help, it still wasn't her idea of fun,

Just then she heard footsteps, but was unable to look, still wrapped up in her mother's hug. "Honey, is everything okay? I heard a thump." he father called, poking his head into the room. "'Mione! We weren't expecting you!" the man exclaimed, coming and hugging her as well. Would you believe it'd only been a week since she was sent off to Hogwarts on the train?

"Mom? Dad? I can't, uh, breathe." At that, both her parents stepped back, releasing her. Hermione took a minute to breathe before smiling at her parents. "I missed you guys. How is everything?"

"Everything is great, except for you not being here. It's so quiet without you around." Her mom mumbled.

"It can't be that quiet, my head is always buried in a book. I never make any noise." Hermione retorted playfully. Not being able to bear seeing her mother even somewhat sad.

Her mom nodded quietly. At this, her father stepped over, kissed his daughter's head, and walked back towards the kitchen, where the two had been earlier. "Lunch will be ready in a few minutes girls." he called over his shoulder.

Hermione took this opportunity to sit down on the couch and start speaking with her mom. The women could tell that something was wrong with her daughter, and so sat down hurriedly. "Is everything okay sweetheart?" she asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

The sad thing is, Hermione wasn't sure how to respond. Was she okay with this?

* * *

 **A/N:** Cliffhanger! Don't you just love those? Once again, I was planning to give a week between updates, but then I got two new reviews and just had to post this. So, to my reviewers, no, we will not be hearing from Draco's perspective unless it is a special circumstance, I always get confused reading split perspectives, and writing them is even harder, plus, it's even more fun trying along with Hermione to figure out what he's thinking.  
And, also, someone mentioned that the story was a little steamy for their tastes, but, I promise, it isn't going to be like that the whole story, case in point this chapter. The first two chapters were like that more to get the 'lust at first kiss' point across. I promise that won't be their whole relationship. So, if that was your only qualm, maybe read on a few more chapters?


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable settings or characters.

* * *

"Everything's fine, I guess mom. I just, I think I have a crush on somebody... Different. I have hated him my whole time at Hogwarts, but now, I really don't know what to do." Hermione finally replied. She knew her mother must be so confused, but hopefully would know what to say, as she always did. She was trying to keep from tearing up, because that would be silly and she didn't want to do that. There was no reason to cry anyway, but she felt like it.

"Well, I mean, hate isn't the opposite of love, you might have felt something for a while. You know, my mom used to tell me that hate and love were practically the same emotion. You spend the same amount of time and energy thinking about that person, it's just in different ways." Her mother replied gently. Hermione had often whined or complained about all the awful things Draco Malfoy had done. Maybe her mother would think differently if she knew just who this was.

"Mommy I don't know what to do. I've never done this, or felt like this before. Why is this happening? And with him of all people. It isn't fair." She replied, obviously a bit upset. She never called her mother 'Mommy' unless something was really wrong.

Her mother pulled the girl into a gentle hug, wanting to comfort her daughter. "Hermione, you don't get to choose who you love. It just happens, there's no way to stop it, or change it, it just happens. I'm sorry that it's so hard for you my sweet girl." She said gently, once again trying to smooth down the mane of bushy hair.

For a few minutes they both just sat there. Then Hermione's father came in, obviously proud of himself, exclaiming that "Lunch, is served." Placing it down on the coffee table. Now, the seven sandwiches might not have looked like much, but for him, the man who couldn't make pasta in a box, it was quite an accomplishment.

"They look great dad." Hermione said with a smile, taking one from the plate. Usually she kept perfect table manners, but for now, she was comfortable, and just leaned back on the couch. No one relly minded the crumbs much anyway.

This visit hadn't fixed much for her, but just talking to her parents and having lunch helped her feel better. They talked for about an hour about the start of school, and her father ended up pulling out a card game, which they played for a while. Eventually the visit ended and Hermione kissed each parent on the cheek. She then stood up, spun on her heel and was gone with a loud pop.

* * *

Once again though, her destination wasn't quite what she'd wanted. More practice at this apparation thing was definitely necessary. Because this time, once again she appeared a few feet above the ground, but it was not in her dorm room. It was nearly on top of the current object of her affections. As she flailed, trying to grab something that would keep her from falling, she grabbed a handful of the unsupecting boy's robes and brought them both falling in a heap on the floor.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed as he fell forwards, more out of surprise than anger, landing directly on top of her. Her face looked a tomato it was so red. Draco scrambled to his feet, brushing off his robes. Even with his haughty expression, he glanced around and, seeing no one, offered the small girl his hand.

Slightly suspicious, Hermione took his hand and was pulled quickly to her feet. No tricks, he didn't drop her, nothing. Now they were standing really close, and she was having trouble thinking, but even so, she noticed that he was about to say something. Then his face fell apparently deciding against it. "Bye Hermione." He mumbled, suddenly dropping her hand and stalking off. It was strange, once again, he called her Hermione. But, it didn't seem like it was to play with her any more. She wasn't totally sure what was going on there, but it must be something.

Hermione headed off down the hall, realizing that she'd been with her parents all day. It was nearly time for dinner, and she was pretty hungry, so the Great Hall was her destination. About halfway there, the bell was rang, alerting all students to the fact that dinner would be served in a few minutes, her pace increased to a jog. Upon arriving, she slid in beside Ron and Ginny by instinct, giving a small smile as she realized that they had saved her a seat.

Today, she managed to stey semi-involved in the conversation, but she was a little bit worried about Draco. Why had he been acting so strange? He seemed distracted, so upset, something like that. And she shouldn't care, but she did. Even so, her mind had seemed to settle a bit since she'd spoken with her mother, apparently having now accepted that she liked Malfoy. As ridiculous and forgeign as the thought still felt.

At some point during the disscussion, Ron had put his arm around her shoulders, she had barely even noticed, it was something that he did pretty often, in a friendly way. She thought it might have been a 'Hermione agrees with me, right?' moment, but wasn't sure. Yet, a quick glance up and across the Hall told her that Draco was glaring furiously at Ron, but dropped his gaze when Hermione glanced his way.

Eventually the food vanished, and Dumbledore told everyone to go back to their dorms, so everybody stood and began to file out of the enormus doorway. Ron's shoulder was still around Hermione's shoulders and she didn't bother to shrug it off. They were all laughing about something when Ginny tripped, accidentally shoving Draco before Harry had a chance to grab her arm.

Fate has a bad sense of humor.

Suddenly Draco spun and glared at the red headed girl, and students backed away from the group about five feet on each side, as if they were all suddenly radioactive. "Watch where you're going." he growled, turning to leave. It was better than it could have been, Hermione knew that from experience. But then Ron stiffened and she knew that things were about to get worse.

"Hey, Malfoy! Don't talk to my sister like that, she tripped!" Ron shouted, pulling Hermione closer without thinking. Slowly Draco turned back around, glaring at Ron. His eyes flitted to Hermione's and for a split second something like hurt flashed through them.

"Weasley, I will talk to you, or your sister, or the Mudblood however I damn well please." The blond boy replied, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, waiting for the redhead's response.

"Ron, leave it alone. Walk away." Hermione said, gripping his robe with one hand and trying to pull him away from the confrontation.

"I am so sick of your attitude, you aren't better than anybody here, hell, you're worse than most. Hermione deserved to be here way more than you do." Ron retorted, pulling away from said bushy haired girl and squaring his shoulders. This was getting blown out of proportion and Hermione could tell it was only getting worse.

"Blood traitor." Malfoy said simply, appearing unfazed.

"Spoiled brat."

"Penniless loser." And that was it.

Ron sprung forward and punched Draco in the nose. The crowd that had surrounded them began chanting "Fight" quite loudly as the two grappled, each landing quite a few blows. Harry ran towards the two trying to drag Ron away, and Hermione moved to the other side trying to pull Draco off of her friend. Neither was getting anywhere until the professors arrived and seperated the two. It all moved so fast Hermione wasn't even sure if they used magic or just pulled the students apart.

Professor McGonagall promised to punish both of them severely, but insisted that both Ron and Draco get to the hospital wing and get sewn up beforehand. Harry pulled Ron's arm across his shoulders and helped him towards the infirmary, acting as a crutch, Ginny doing the same on his other side, even though it wasn't too bad. When some Slytherins tried to help Draco, he just growled something and shrugged them off, storming towards the hospital wing.

Hermione trailed behind Ron glancing over her shoulder towards the Slytherin a few times. Both of them were battered and bloody. Ron had a huge black eye and a cut below his cheek bone. Draco's knuckles were bleeding, his eyebrow was cut and his lower lip was swollen. There was probably more but Hermione couldn't focus on anything else.

She helped Ron into bed and Ginny fretted while Harry scolded. Hermione was distracted however, watching Draco climb into bed and let Madame Pomfrey fix his wounds, it didn't take long, but Hermione felt badly. He was laying there, hurt and alone, while Ron had three people by his bedside. She had never considered before that Draco might be really lonely. Maybe that was why he had sat beside her in the library, and why he'd been acting almost nice to her lately.

Eventually, the Slytherin was mended and she moved over to Ron's side, but Madame Pomfrey insisted both boys sleep in the infirmary that night, just to be safe. And, definitely on opposite sides of the room.

* * *

 **A/N:** Once again, I wasn't going to update this frequently, but, oh well. Let me know what you think of this chapter, I'm a little worried.

Also, in chapter 2, I did not mean to say she was bad at potions! I'm sorry if I gave that impression. "Least adept" were my words, because she's great at everything, but you have to be less great at something. For example, maybe it's a subject where she gets her homework in on the deadline, rather than a week early. You know what I mean? Once again, Hermione is not bad at potions, I'm sorry for giving that impression!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable settings or characters.

* * *

For some reason Madame Pomfrey had taken pity on the group of teens surrounding Ron, and decided to let them all stay the night in the infirmary, even though none of them were hurt and Ron's injuries weren't all that bad. After she went to bed, the idea that she had gone crazy was brought up more than once. It was kind of scary. But, the three weren't going to question it, falling asleep on the beds beside Ron's.

Sadly, when Hermione woke up, she was not in the bed she had gone to sleep in. She was in a bed beside Malfoy's. After a week of frenzied dreaming and pining and such, she was just happy she hadn't woken up in _his_ bed. She sat up and yawned, stretching before she decided to stand up and start her day. She knew it was early, no one else was awake yet, so figured her sleeping arrangements probably wouldn't be brought up. Thank the gods.

"Somewhere to be Hermione?" She heard, a smug little tinge to the boy's voice. Obviously it hadn't escaped his notice that she had somehow switched beds during the night. Of course, he didn't know why, and could only assume, but maybe that was worse.

But, she decided to be kind. After seeing him all alone the day before, Hermione couldn't see Draco in the same way. Now all she saw was someone lonely, and trying to make up for it by being a jerk. "You're awake. Good. Feeling better?" Hermione asked completely serious, and moved to sit by his feet so they could have a conversation before her early morning studies.

He appeared very confused by where she had chosen to sit, and by how she was acting, but made no attempt to move her. Then Draco scoffed, wiping all confusion out of his expression and showing only confidence. "I'm fine. It'll take more than an angry Weasel to break me." He replied arrogantly. Honestly, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, some emotional display from a Malfoy? Unheard of.

She gave a small sigh and stood. "Glad you feel better. See you later Draco." She said quietly, moving to gather up her bag and head to the library. Sleeping in the infirmary, not having brushed her hair the night before, or this morning made her look a bit like a lion, so she was beginning to wrestle and pull her hair into a braid, not wanting to walk around school looking electrocuted.

"Wait!" She heard, turning to look back at Draco who was now climbing out of bed and getting his own bag. She decided to wait rather than blowing him off and leaving without him. "Would you be alright if I, you know, went with you?" He asked, seeming unsure for just a minute before adding, "I mean, I'll follow anyway so might as well say yes."

There it was again, a flicker of something remotely feeling before he erased it with arrogance. "Sure Draco, I'm just going to the library." With that the pair headed off in silence. It was a bit weird at first, but then it was just, normal. Hermione found herself comfortable just walking quietly with Draco, not feeling the need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter as she often did.

Once arriving at the library, they parted ways, each filing through the rows to find an acceptable book for that morning. Hermione half expected not to see him again until breakfast, and was almost surprised when he settled in next to her at the table.

They had been reading beside each other for probably twenty minutes when Draco said something to catch the girl completely off guard. "Can you give me hand with this Hermione? The concept is a bit confusing."

Hermione looked at him wide eyed. Had Draco Malfoy just asked for help? Her help? Where were the flying pigs? Were demons having snowball fights? But she quickly shook it off, not wanting to scare him back into his shell. "Uh, yeah, what is it?" She asked coolly, pulling the Arithmancy textbook closer so she could see better.

Draco moved his chair a bit closer, causing her breath to catch in her throat for a minute as the both stared down at the same words, shoulder to shoulder. He took a minute to explain his problem, and Hermione talked him through it. With how fast Draco grasped the concept, Hermione wasn't totally sure he'd ever really needed her help in the first place. When they were done, she cast the boy a suspicious glance and turned back to her own book.

Surprisingly, neither made to move their chairs away, staying and an almost-touching distance.

* * *

When the breakfast bell rang, both Hermione and Deco put their books away, gathered their bags and headed towards the Great Hall. It was a bit unsettling that he didn't increase his pace and leave her side. Secretly being sorta friends with a Mudblood is one thing, publicly though?

Some time, around halfway to the Great Hall, Draco said something funny and Hermione laughed. It might not seem like much, but she'd never laughed with him before. She'd been laughed at, she'd laughed at him a few times, but laughing together? Never! She liked it. And it was funny, at first when this whole thing had started, she worried about what Ron and Harry would say, but now, it didn't matter as much. If she wanted to be friends with Draco Malfoy, no one was going to stop her, no matter who they were.

Eventually they got to the Great Hall, Hermione waved goodbye and they headed inside. Ginny gave her a strange glace, seeming to have noticed, but no one else appeared to care much. She sat down quietly and began to eat, chatting with her friends normally. Finally it felt like her life was falling back into place, the only different being that there was a new piece. Draco.

Breakfast passed quickly, and then Hermione realized there were no classes. It was Sunday. She never did much on weekends, usually just spending them in the library, but she felt like doing something today. What? Well that was unsure, but something other than reading. She filed out of the hall with everybody else, but simply wandered the halls for a while, trying to decide on an activity.

Eventually she resigned to going to Hogsmeade, not seeing much else to do. The Gryffindore headed back to her dorm, putting on some warm clothes. It wasn't winter yet, just the beginning of September actually, but it had already stated getting cold this year, and Hermione had never dealt with cold well.

Now sufficiently bundled, she headed out of her dorm, down the stairs, through several corridors, and finally was out of her school. Everything was gorgeous here all the time, but today just seemed perfect. The flowers weren't out like in spring, and the leaves weren't orange yet like later in the month, everything was just green. All different shades, beautiful. She headed down the hill towards the village, smiling, breathing in the crisp fresh air. It was good to get out of the musty library sometimes, even Hermione had to admit. Although sitting out here and reading would achieve the same result.

It was a good fifteen minutes of walking before she arrived at the adorable little town, and she'd had plenty of time to think about where to go first. The Quidditch store. Her best friends were always chattering on about the dangerous sport, but she figured maybe she could find them a present.

As she ducked inside, Hermione realized that the shop keeper must share her feelings about the cold, it was hot in there! The Gryffindore began browsing as she pulled off her layers, a hat, a scarf, her top sweatshirt, she didn't really think much about it until someone laughed.

"Warm enough under there Hermione?" Someone asked, and she could tell he was probably right behind her by now. Why was he always so quiet? Even so, it still surprised her that they were now, apparently on a first name basis.

Hermione spun around and looked up at him with a smile. "Are you following me Draco?" She asked playfully, giving a small laugh and turning back to the objects before her. They were Quidditch robes. She assumed they were high quality, but honestly had no idea, and was staring at them like they were a puzzle to be solved.

He seemed to brush over her question, moving to stand beside Hermione so close that they were touching. "They aren't going to talk to you, you know that right?" He asked, apparently referencing to her extremely concentrated expression. It hadn't been much, they'd only had a few friendly conversations, but he seemed to be accepting her into a friendly role. Wether they were actually friends or not, she wasn't sure, and if they were, it probably wouldn't be public, but Hermione was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

"Obviously I wasn't expecting them to talk Draco." Hermio e replied with a scoff, moving to another table, like she would be any more adept at knowing the difference between these robes and the last ones. Also, it might have been that standing so close to the Slytherin was, just, ah, she couldn't think straight. And to her dismay, he followed her and once again stood extremely close. At this point, she couldn't really tell if he was still playing with the fact she was attracted to him, or just didn't realize what he was doing.

The girl turned to face him, placing a hand on her hip and trying to look annoyed. "Do you need something? Can I help you?" She asked, now realizing that the feelings she'd been dealing with were not in fact gone. Apparently they'd just been hiding this morning, now they were back full force and she was blushing for no reason. She probably looked crazy, standing there trying to look annoyed turning bright red and bashful.

All she wanted to do was tell him to go away so she could think straight, but the words couldn't seem to form correctly. They were so close together, it would be so easy to just reach out and- stop! She continued to wait for his response, not expecting a smirk and a small chuckle. "What, a guy can't help his friend pick out Quidditch robes for another guy?" He asked innocently.

Suddenly, her emotions were at war once again. He'd called her his friend. One part of her was happy about this, it was nice for him to have a friend, and she was starting to like his personality, but another part of her was crushed at the word friend. She didn't want to be his friend! She wanted to be his- No. She didn't want to be more than that, Hermione was sure of it. She was glad he now considered her a friend, even if he was still awful to her in public.

Then she realized he'd said something other than call her a friend. She'd been so caught up in her own thoughts, that she didn't know what he had said. Whoops. What should she say in response? Was it a yes or no? Was he expecting words of some kind? Ah! Panic was setting in, and she was just getting redder and redder trying to remember what the blond had said.

She wasn't sure who instigated what had happened next, but it happened, and it was too late to take it back.

* * *

 **A/N:** Cliffhangers! Aren't they fun? Can you guess what happened? Also, I appreciate all the kind words I've been getting! For all those people requesting updates, I planned to update once a week, but now I'm doing one a day! Sadly, I don't want to post faster than that, burning out of ideas is no fun for anybody.

Somebody asked for more steamy, I think I have you covered in the next chapter. Also, I just have to say, writing for Draco in this story is really fun. I mean, I hope I'm not going to OOC, feel free to tell me if I am, but its just so interesting piecing together all the different pieces, because there are a few times in the books and movies when he's obviously conflicted about the way he acts, and J.K herself confirmed that he always had a crush on Hermione, so, anyway, I'm rambling, but, anyways, please read on, once again, review if you have questions comments or just want to let me know what you think. I love criticism just as much as compliments as long as it's constructive.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable settings or characters.

* * *

They were kissing. Neither was really sure what had happened. One minute they were joking around, Hermione struggling with an inner monologue, and the next they were kissing. Who had initiated it and why, was, all in all, a complete mystery. Poor Hermione, being the small girl she was, had perched as high on her tiptoes as possible, but Draco still had to lean down in order to reach.

Hermione tried pulling him back behind a shelf, not wanting anyone to see the pair making out in the Quidditch shop, but ended up tripping. Somehow, contact never once broke, and Draco managed to catch her, actually picking up the light Gryffindore and carrying her back to their destination, then placing her down against a bookshelf.

Hermione, being ever modest, ran her fingers through his hair, one arm holding his shoulder, meanwhile her partner's hands seemed to wander as they saw fit, the poor girl having to squeak and slap his hand two or three times. Time didn't seem to matter, Hermione had been waiting to do this again for an entire week, but eventually, the two broke apart - just barely.

Both stayed holding each other tightly, but Hermione had to pause and catch her breathe for a minute. She could tell that Draco was also a bit winded, even if he tried not to let on. Hermione had been kissed before, by Victor Krum after the Yule Ball, but it was nothing like this. Sure it was pleasant but, not... Not like this. Meanwhile, she was sure Draco had plenty of experience in this department, with girls who were much better kissers than she was.

She ended up placing her hands gently on the Slytherin's chest, thinking about pushing him away, but hesitating when tingles shot up her arms. "I- D-Draco, what the hell was that?" She asked, not even bothering to try and hide her stutter.

He smirked that same infuriating smirk, and the worst part was that she thought it made him look even better. "I'm pretty sure it was a kiss. Want to do it again?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Now Hermione remembered why this had been an issue in the first place. She pushed him away lightly, although in the small aisle between shelves he could on take a single step back before his back was against the wall. This time it was his turn to ask the question. "What the hell Hermione?" He sounded a bit annoyed, whether it was with the push or simply the fact she probably wouldn't kiss him again that day, she couldn't be sure.

"What is this? Why are we making out in the middle of the store?" Hermione asked in a hushed whisper, not wanting to alert the shop keeper or any customers.

Malfoy scoffed and crossed his arms. "I don't know. Stop making such a big deal out of this Granger. I mean, you're the one who jumped me." He replied, keeping his cool exterior in perfect condition.

Her eyes went wide, "I most certainly did not! If I'm remembering correctly, you started the kiss _Malfoy._ " Using his last name to spite his use of hers.

An eye roll was her only response.

"You know, you're an arrogant little shit." She hissed angrily, not really understanding why he upset her so. It was just Malfoy. She shouldn't care what he thought. Just as she was about to spew more insults, he was right in front of her again. She couldn't help it. He just smelled so good, and he looked so handsome, she didn't mean to, but then they were kissing again.

"Shut up." He mumbled against her lips, and she would have retorted if she wasn't so distracted.

* * *

It was easily two hours later when the pair finally made it out of the store. Draco had managed to convince Hermione to just go with whatever happened, and stop panicking about 'what this was'. Maybe they'd be friends, maybe they'd be more, maybe they'd go back to being enemies. Who cares?

The only reason the two left is because Hermione noticed the sky turning red. Sunset was about to start, so was dinner. People were going to notice that they were missing. She just knew that Ginny would figure it out. So, while Draco strolled leisurely, she jogged back to Hogwarts, hoping to get there before the dinner bell rang.

She made it, barely, sliding into her seat obviously out of breath. Of course, her 'girl friends' questioned eagerly as to where she was, and she made up some lie about getting into a discussion with the bookstore owner. Other than that, dinner passed smoothly, with minimal glances over that the Slytherin table to see if Draco arrived. He never did. Neither did Pansy Parkinson, but she tried not to jump to conclusions without all the information.

Then again, the fact that she was almost jealous because of Draco was a little scary. She spent her dinner eating quietly, once again consumed with thoughts of Draco. If she thought it was bad before, this must be obsession. She never should've kissed him again, or maybe he had kissed her first. Either way, she wasn't exactly blameless on the 'kissing back' front. She most certainly had. Not that it wasn't, well perfect, because it was.

Hermione sighed, realizing that dinner was now over. Maybe she should talk this over with someone. Ron? No. Harry? He'd try to be understanding and helpful, but no. Lavender or Parvati? She didn't know them well enough. That just left the sex crazed redhead. Ginny. Oh well. As all the students stood and turned to leave, Hermione reached out and grabbed her friend's shoulder. "Gin, can I talk to you when we get back? It's important."

Ginny looked partly worried, partly curious, but nodded, moving to link arms with Hermione, whispering questions such as "Are you alright?" Over and over until Hermione was about ready to give up on this whole 'talking to someone' idea. But, before she could back out, they were in their room, she had changed into her pajamas and the two girls were sitting on Hermione's bed with two mugs of hot cocoa. Where Ginny had managed to get cocoa was a mystery, but Hermione knew from experience that whatever the firey girl wanted, she got.

"So? What is it? What's wrong Hermione?" Ginny asked, wide eyed.

"Well…" She trailed off, sipping from the mug in her hands slowly, obviously stalling, trying to work up the nerve to tell her best girl friend.

"Stop that. Out with it Missy." Ginny insisted, shaking her friend's shoulder gently.

"I'm kinda having a thing with Draco. Malfoy." She mumbled into the cocoa, almost hoping that Ginny hadn't heard.

"You're _what_?! Since when? You naughty princess!" Ginny hissed excitedly, referencing that stupid nickname Hermione had earned in her years at Hogwarts.

Hermione blushed, still intensely focused on her drink. "It isn't like that, I mean, its just, after that dare we've been studying together, and he's been really nice. He's also the reason I've been out of it since then. But, today, we made out in the Quidditch shop for about two hours. So, I don't know, I think it's a thing, but he might just be messing with me." She replied, finally voicing her fears out loud. She didn't want to be strung along, and she didn't want to end up feeling something if her heart was going to get broken.

Ginny smiled reassuringly, putting an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "It'll be okay. If he likes you, he likes you, and if he doesn't... Well, I'm here for you." She promised.

Hermione smiled gratefully, and the two girls chatted for the rest of the night about several less important things than the 'Draco situation' as Hermione was now referring to it.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I have a question for everybody. ALL my readers. I have ideas for two different paths this story could take, would you all prefer to keep it lighthearted, with minor squabbles, or would a dark and twisty event be better? Now, I can do both, let me know if that's what you'd like. I don't mind much either way, so just let me know.

Also, I did it! Two chapters in one day. Go me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable settings or characters.

* * *

Hermione got up early for studying, as usual, doing her daily routine of a shower and then putting on school robes. She scooped up the heavy bag, discarded beside her bed, then rushed off towards the library excitedly. At this point, ssurprisingly, she wasn't dreaming of all the wonderful books, she was excited to see Draco. It was stupid, but she'd met him in the library a few times now and she was really excited to see him again.

But, when she pushed through the large mahogany doors, pulled out a largetextbook and headed towards her usual table, Hermione's heart sunk. He wasn't there. She slid into her chair and started reading. Honestly the Gryffindore was confused with herself. She now knew that she felt something for him, but him not being her almost made Hermione want to cry. It wasn't logical or rational, which was the epitome of her personality, but it was how she felt.

After reading for about, she guessed, fourty minutes, he showed up. Like some knight in shining armour, Draco sat down and made her feel better just by being there. "Morning Hermione." The boy said quietly, apparently unaware that he'd been late and almost sent Hermione's world crumbling because of it.

"Uh, morning Draco." She replied, the name still sounding foreign. He should be Malfoy, the ferret from Slytherin, not Draco, the lonely kid she was falling for. But then, she decided to try something out. Hermione already knew that Draco was a good kisser, nasty to her in public, and was, for some reason, drawing her to him like a moth to a flame. But, she didn't know much else about him. "So, what's your favorite food?" Hermione asked out of the blue.

He looked up at her as if she'd grown two heads. Apparently first name basis does not give permission to ask about favorite foods. Fully prepared to go right back to her book, Hermione looked down in embarrassment. But then, he answered. "Sour apple bites. I've loved them since I was a kid. What about you?"

She tried to hide the gigantic smile that spread across her face. She shouldn't be this happy about something so simple, but, she was. "My mom's macaroni and cheese is the best. It has to be my favorite." In fact, just the thought of quiet night eating with her family made her happy. She missed them so much, but even so, never once regretted coming to Hogwarts.

"What is that?" Draco asked, appearing to not be kidding in the slightest. This almost made Hermione's heart break. She'd been in the wizard world for a while, but Draco had never been to her world. Any time she brought up her home life, he'd be totally clueless. It was honestly a little bit sad.

She paused to think for a moment. "Hmm, well, it's basically pasta covered in melted cheese. My mom bakes hers so that the top is all crunchy, but it can be made a bunch of ways. I could bring you some one day." Hermione offered with a smile. She wasn't even sure if he'd know what those things were.

Draco appeared to understand, piecing it together in his head, but it's hard to imagine what something tastes like if you've never tried it. "I'd actually like that. Macaroni and cheese sounds quite interesting." He mused, turning back to his book.

The conversation was now apparently over. But, little victories. Hermione had learned his favorite food, he knew hers. She wasn't going to blow this out of proportion, obviously they weren't anywhere near the deep dark secrets stage of friendship, but it was something.

* * *

The two kept reading until breakfast, same as they had been doing the past while. It was odd that Hermione's daily routine now included a Slytherin. Draco, no less. But, she was coming to terms with everything that that involved. The two put away their reading material, and then headed off towards the Great Hall together, still chatting as if it was perfectly normal. Still, at least they hadn't lost control and started making out in the hallway. That would not be very covert.

Once at the Great Hall, Hermione gave him a smile, pausing for a moment. She considered hugging him goodbye, or even giving him a kiss on the cheek. But, while she didn't care much what others thought of her, the brown haired girl knew how much Draco valued his reputation. So, their conversation ended with a wave, and a hesitant, "See you later."

As she sat in her seat, immediately she knew something was up. Ron and Harry were rolling their eyes, somewhere between annoyed and disinterested. Meanwhile, Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny were all excited, squealing, and suddenly Hermione was dragged into their conversation. "Did you hear?" "Are you going?" "Do you know what you'll wear?" All these questions were flung at her, no time in between to answer.

"Slow down, slow down. What's going on?"

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes apparently taking up the role of 'explainer'. "Dumbledore wants to do something different for All Hallows Eve. He's throwing a masquerade! It's going to be so much fun! But, of course, I don't think news has reached the library yet." She added the last sentence teasingly, but as she said it, Hermione took a moment to glance across the room at Draco. Apparently he was hearing news of it as well, admittedly with less squealing and excited giggles.

Why did Hermione want to be friends with girls again? But, she couldn't help being excited as well. If it was a masquerade, maybe there was a chance, even if a small one, that she could go with Draco. But, she blew the idea off quickly and returned to her current conversation.

Now planted back in reality, she couldn't help but notice Lavender a little bit more 'involved' with Ron than usual. She laughed at everything he said, constantly looked at him, blushed when he so much as glanced her way, but Hermione didn't want to draw any conclusions.

The group ate for about half an hour, before all their food vanished. They'd talked the entire time about the masquerade ball, what everyone would wear, apparently Ron needed new dress robes, as did every single girl. So, Hermione was roped into a shopping trip for next weekend. Lovely.

She headed out of the Hall, towards her first class. Her whole day was spent thinking about that stupid ball. No matter how much she tried, Hermione couldn't get it off her mind, because if no one knew who they were, maybe she and Draco really could go together.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, short, filler chapter. I know that I just dropped off the map. I'm really sorry, March has been rough and it took until now to get back into the swing of things. Also, not many people voted! But the ones who did, all pretty much agreed that the story should be kept lighthearted with a little bit of darkness. I have ideas...

And, I wanted to clarify, this is already way AU if Draco and Hermione are ending up together. I am not good at writing villains, and violence puts me off, so the war is _not_ looming. This is what it may have been like if the golden trio had a normal Hogwarts experience, rather than the crazy one that they did. Not that stories with these elements are bad, I just can't write them. I'm not going to write something I know I'm bad at, if my heart isn't in it, and I could easily write something else.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable characters or settings.

* * *

Hermione woke up and yawned, usually she had an easy time asking in the morning, but today she was still tired. Of course, it was very early, no one else was awake yet, as usual. It wouldn't be hard to just fall back asleep and wake up for breakfast, but the idea of seeing Draco for another morning of studying was just too much to pass up. So, she slowly dragged off the heavy comforters and stepped out of bed.

The night before, she'd been too hot before bed, and ended up sleeping in shorts and a thin tank top, now, the dorms were cold and she was actually close to shivers. The bushy haired girl scurried towards the bathroom, turning on the hot water, discarding her pajamas on the floor, and letting out a sigh of relief once she got into the hot shower.

She took more than a few minutes to just enjoy the warmth, washing her hair and body before she reached for the fluffy Gryffindore towels on the counter. Trying to get dressed before getting cold again, she rushed across the room, pulling on her school robes, scooping up her school bag and then leaving the tower before anyone else had even stirred from their peaceful slumber.

Hermione had begun to allow herself to consider the possibility of going to the masquerade with Draco. She didn't want to go with anyone else, and no one would know who they were anyway. She was well aware that this thought could leave to heartbreak, and maybe be foolish, but it was just something about him. Maybe a desire to learn more, maybe the fact that he was nice to her and seemingly only her. Draco made her feel special, as stupid and star-crossed as that sounded.

Once again, she pushed open the large doors, battered by the smell of old books and dusty shelves. The library was definitely her home, no doubt about it. Of course, she was a bit later than usual this morning, so wasn't surprised to see Draco already sitting at the table. What Hermione was surprised to see, was what appeared to be a look of relief on his face when she sat down. It was gone a moment later, but she knew she'd seen it.

"You're late Hermione." Draco complained, a hint of a whine evident in his voice.

She laughed a bit. "Sorry Draco. I was tired. I presume that you managed in my absence?"

An eye roll. Of course. "Obviously I managed." He replied, turning back to his book.

They went back to reading side by side for about forty five minutes, before Draco finally said something. "Can you help me really quick?" That was the second time he'd asked for her help in a week and a half. Something really must be wrong with the Slytherin boy, but Hermione went with it, moving her chair over so she could see better.

The two talked over his problem, and once again, Hermione wasn't sure that he'd ever needed help in the first place. But, this time, he surprised her. As their conversation came to a finish, she looked at him, and a hand reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She saw him say something, but the sound never registered. She was too distracted by her own pounding heart. Next thing she knew, they were touching.

It was unlike their kisses before. Those had been long and passionate, but this was gentle and soft. Draco's hands encircled her waist, and she ran her fingers through his hair gently. When the two seperated, she felt invincible. Filled with confidence and joy like nothing could touch her. And Hermione realized, if she wanted to go to the dance with Draco, he was never going to ask her, he was too prideful. If she wanted to go with Draco, she had to ask. And, better now with this stunning confidence.

The pair were still just inches apart, Draco's hands on her waist and one of Hermione's hands resting on his cheek. "Draco, I wanted to ask you something. Would you like to, maybe, go-" and just then, the bell rang, symbolizing breakfast, and breaking the spell placed on them. At least, on her. Hermione couldn't do this. Her? The mudblood? Asking Draco Malfoy to the masquerade? He'd never say yes.

"Wait! What were you going to say?" Draco asked, his grip tightening around her waist. His eyes searched hers, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. It seemed like he really cared, but she couldn't risk it.

Hermione shrugged his hands off, stood and tryed to laugh about it as she gathered her things. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you later Draco." She replied with a small laugh. Hermione pulled her bag over one shoulder, trying to act completely unaffected, even if she was screaming at herself to just say something. But, she couldn't. She didn't want to mess this up. She risked a kid on the cheek as she passed by, giving a small wave as she passed through the huge library doors.

This morning, she rushed to breakfast alone, scolding herself silently. How could she have wimped out like that? Hermione sat down in her seat, and wouldn't look at any of her friends. They all tried in the beginning, but eventually it was just Ginny pestering her, trying to figure out what was wrong. She pushed her food around her place, not bothering to eat anything, until the bell rang again and she was the first one out of the hall.

Hermione promised herself, that she'd ask Draco to the masquerade the next day. She had to. If he said yes, at least she knew there was a chance of this, whatever it was, going further. If he said no, they'd either stay just friends, or drift apart. The worst part of this whole thing was that Draco wasn't even leading her on. He'd made no commitments or promises, it was all in her head. She had all these plans and ideas and even dreams, about someone she was fully aware probably had no interest in continuing their relationship further.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on. Classes, conversations with her friends, even dinner where she barely ate more than a bite. Hermione didn't even recognize her own thoughts. Her mind was being invaded by some girl who dreamed of dresses for a dance, and what it'd be like, and what music they'd play. Ever since this year had begun, she was no longer herself. Of course, her mother wasn't worried, but still. Maybe something was wrong with her.

When it was time for bed, surprisingly, sleep came quickly. Of course, the dreams that presented themselves were... Interesting. There was dreams of the masquerade, a dream where she was fixing her hair, Draco in a tux came up several times, and Draco out of a tux might have come up once or twice as well. Old habits die hard, right?

The next morning, she got ready for classes quickly, and headed downstairs, as per usual. But before she got to the library, she realized that she and Draco were arriving at the same time. Hermione stood up straighter, fully prepared to take the lead and ask Draco Malfoy to the masquerade dance. Before the two stepped inside, she grabbed his arm, figuring maybe this would be best in the hallway, where there was a clear escape route, just in case she embarrassed herself, running was a fair option.

"Draco, wait a minute. I want to ask you something." Hermione said quickly, still holding his arm.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ha ha. I love cliff hangers! I know it is a short chapter, but I think I'm finally over writers block. I've got ideas. But, before we get there, I feel the need to thank someone.

A guest reviewer named Natalie has reviewed every single chapter of mine. This entire story! And, while it's been mostly kind words, they did give me a bit of constructive criticism. Now, I definitely appreciate all my reviewers, you all mean the world to me, I'm not singling one person out to be mean, I just really appreciate the dedication to my humble little story.

Now, back to the usual, please review if you can and tell me how I'm doing. Wether it's criticism (only constructive though please. If you don't like something, tell me how to fix it) or just a comment that you like my story, I appreciate everything.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters or settings.

* * *

Draco turned to look at her, appearing to not have noticed her before she grabbed his arm. Nonetheless, apparently whatever she had to say interested him, so he waited. "What is it Hermione?"

It was too late to back away now. She couldn't do it the day before, and she had to do it right then and there. She was a Gryffindore for God's sake. She could handle this. It was just a stupid question. Sure, it was a question that easily defined her relationship with the handsome Slytherin from then on, but still. Just a question. She was turning a bit blue, from the not breathing, and Draco appeared to be getting worried.

But, before she passed out, Hermione took a deep breath and decided to get this whole thing over with. Even if there was heavy dread settling in a pit at the base of her stomach. "I- Well, I mean, I've been wanting to ask. Do you think we could go to the masquerade ball together? They're holding it on Halloween. See, I thought it would be perfect, because the dance will be charmed so that no one will get recognized. That way you don't have to worry about your friends, or your dad or anything. You know what I mean?" She asked. Hermione's expression was so sickeningly hopeful, even as Draco remained expressionless.

Before he had a chance to say anything, a train of thought played out on her head. She didn't know what to call him. He was Draco, sure. But was he really a friend? Could he be counted as a boyfriend? They weren't really dating. They weren't exactly friends with benefits either, after all, they'd just kissed. Nothing more. Hermione had no idea what he was to her, and that meant he probably had even less of an idea as to who she was.

Then, he broke eye contact and she knew this was over. Whatever it was. Draco looked down at his shoes, one of which was probably more expensive than her whole wardrobe, and brought a hand in to rub the back of his neck uncomfortably. See, Draco Malfoy always had a plan, he always had confidence, and he always had some snide remark. The fact that he couldn't even look her in the eyes was a very bad sign.

"You know, Hermione, it's not that I don't want to..." And that was all she needed to hear.

Hermione nodded quickly, blinking the tears out of her eyes. "Umm. I'll see you at, uh, breakfast." She stuttered, taking off in the other direction as fast as she could. See, escape routes always come in handy.

She refused to let him see her cry. Not so much because she was angry with him for hurting her feelings, but Hermione could tell that he was starting to care about her. Draco had enough to deal with right now, and he didn't need to feel like he'd hurt her. Even now in tears, her first thouts were still about Draco's feelings. She darted for the Gryffindore tower, running up the staircase and managing to tell the fat lady the password. The poor painting wanted to know what had happened, but Hermione just couldn't talk about it.

When she got up to her room, she threw the book bag onto her bed, and climbed into bed next to Ginny. She was the only one who knew, and even if she was a blabbermouth most of the time, the redhead had kept this secret. Hermione shook her friend's shoulder, and was met with an annoyed groan. Of course, the bothered expression vanished when she caught sight of Hermione's tear streaked face.

"What is it? What happened?" Ginny looked terrified for her, but all the bushy haired girl could manage at that moment was crying. Lots of it. Luckily, Ginny knew a charm to muffle the noise so that no one except for her and Hermione would be able to hear. After all, their roommates would be waking up in a little while.

It was about twenty minutes before Hermione felt well enough to explain what had happened.

* * *

"...The worst part is, I can't even be angry with him Gin. It wasn't his fault. Draco didn't make me any promises. He didn't lead me on. I started this whole thing. I kissed him first, I got attached, I mean, it was all in my head! We didnt break up; We were never together in the first place! How could I do this to myself? He is Draco Malfoy, he's a bully, and sure he was nice to me for a while, but he'll always be Draco Malfoy. This couldn't work anyway." Hermione said, still laying on her friend's bed, staring at the red canopy above.

"It wasn't in your head, I promise. And, you didn't start it, I did. Remember? I dared you to kiss him. I'm sorry I messed everything up." Ginny replied, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. She just looked relieved that Hermione had stopped crying.

"No. You didn't mess anything up Ginny. You just meant it as a joke, you couldn't have known okay? Don't feel bad." Hermione replied reassuringly, honestly seeing no fault of her friend's in this situation.

Then Ginny gasped, and Hermione assumed something was wrong, looking over with a startled expression. "We should go to the dance together! You, Parvati and I! We can all go together, no boys. It'll be great!" She exclaimed, like it was the best idea in the world.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, a bit sceptical, but eventually decided that it sounded like an okay plan. "Alright. That sounds like fun. It will be great Ginny, good idea." She replied, and paused for a moment. "But what about Lavender? She can go with us too, right?"

The question was just meant in passing, Hermione had figured she probably just forgot to mention the other girl's name. But when Ginny suddenly looked away, it was obvious that something was going on. She narrowed her eyes at the younger girl suspiciously, silently demanding answers.

"Okay, well, she and Ron. They're kinda going to the dance together. But I wasn't supposed to tell you! I was supposed to wait until they talked to you about it first. So, you can't let anyone know I told you! Act surprised okay?" And that was exactly why Hermione had worried about Ginny knowing about her and Draco. If she spilled secrets that easily, the risk of someone finding out about her and Draco was high. Had been high. Now there was nothing to find out about.

Honestly, she didn't understand what the big deal was. She was not Ron, or Lavender's mother. They didn't need her permission. And everyone acted like she was madly in love with Ron or something. Why was that? They were friends, good friends, but no one thought she and Harry were dating! Sure, she'd had a crush on him a couple years ago, but that was it! A stupid crush. She wasn't going to lose it and yell at Lavender for liking Ron. Good for them.

Hermione nodded her approval. "Okay. So Parvati, you, and I will go to the dance. We don't need anyone to ask us, we are strong, independent women. Right?" She asked with a laugh.

"Right!"

* * *

The morning basically continued that way. Small talk, giggling, and basically avoiding any subjects having to do with a certain Slytherin. But, eventually the breakfast bell rang and they headed downstairs. Hermione had linked arms with her friend and they followed the flood of students downstairs. However, Hermione's conversation was cut short when she sat down at the table.

Draco was looking at her across the room. But it wasn't the same look she'd come to expect lately. Maybe she was imagining things. She probably was, but his stare looked cold. He wasn't smiling at her, he wasn't glaring at her, it was just expressionless and to Hermione, it seemed cold. Like he was staring right through her. She never should have said anything anything about the dance, it wasn't worth it.

* * *

The rest of the school week, Hermione was her normal, dedicated to school self. She payed attention in class, she took notes religiously, and yet, she felt like something was missing. Hermione still studied in the library every morning, and couldn't help but search for Draco. Maybe he'd come sit next to her, or say good morning, hell, she'd settle for him making fun of her. But he never did. She almost missed the thoughts of Draco that had been stuck firmly in her mind since the school year began. She had hated being so distracted, but now she felt lonely, which was ridiculous.

Hermione had been fine without Draco for years. She was happy being just friends with Ron and Harry for so long, no thoughts of romance or making friends with new people coming across even once. How had Draco become such a huge part of her life in such a short time? She started talking more with her friends again, then, by the time things got back to normal, it was Saturday. Time for lots of excited girls, and many pretty, expensive dresses.

She got up and did her daily routine, showering, getting dressed and the like, with one exception. Hermione put on more than a little bit of Speakeazy's Hair Potion before heading downstairs to meet her friends. After all, it was a masquerade they were getting ready for. She wouldn't be going with her trademark bushy hair, Hermione would probably either put on the hair Potion or have one of her friends charm her hair. They'd been going on and on about that all week. Ginny had been thinking about a glamour that gave her long blond hair, just to see how it would look.

Either way, her hair would look nice, and it would be easier to tell what she would really look like the night of the ball, if her hair looked nice while they tried the dresses on.

Early, as usual, Hermione ended up waiting in the Main Doorway for about a half of an hour before her friends arrived. They were all excited about getting up early, like getting up at seven was something to be excited about. This made Hermione, the girl who constantly woke at five, roll her eyes.

But, even so, she managed to get swept up in excited discussion. Even if she'd never say it out loud, she was actually pretty excited for Halloween. It might end up being really fun. While the girls headed down the long hill, several topics came up. What kind of masks, the color of the dresses, what type of shoes, gloves or no gloves. Honestly, Hermione didn't care as much as the other girls, but it was kind of fun to play along and be excited with them.

The group actually managed to be first into the shop, which was crazy. Hermione had expected it to already be flooded with girls excited for the first masquerade in Hogwarts History. But, apparently, everyone was either sleeping in, or shopping the next day. Once inside, the four scattered, running through rows and rows of beautiful dresses. Almost everyone decided on a basic long dress, but, everyone found something different. (Mini A/N: I'll be writing a section about each girl. Hermione's will be last, so skip to there if you'd like.)

* * *

Once each girl had assembled a pIle of dresses, it was decided that they would take turns trying on dresses to see what was the best. Lavender went first. Lots of things happened, she tried on each dress with different pairs of shoes, held her hair up in different styles to see what looked best, experimented with gloves, and probably twelve dresses. Eventually, her Masquerade outfit was decided.

Lavender stood on the pedestal, discarded ball gowns strewn around her. She looked almost like a bride, or would have if her dress was white. Her curly hair was pulled nicely to one side, laying nicely in front of her left shoulder. Her dress was a light pink, like cotton candy. It was strapless, and a bit low cut for Hermione, but Lavender seemed to like it. Her top half was bejeweled with sequins, not a single spot of matte in sight, while her skirt was shiny and satiny, hanging gently rather than puffing out like a typical ball gown.

The mask on her face only covered her eyes, but was half pink, and half silver, with silver florals covering the entire mask. Honestly, Hermione thought she looked gorgeous. That type of pink wasn't a color she had ever worn well, but it suited Lavender nicely.

* * *

Ginny took the next turn, and it was much quieter this time. She didn't try on as many things, only about three dresses, and two pairs of shoes. Each time she ended up taking something off, she was careful to hang it back up nicely. By the end, everyone agreed on Ginny's dress. It was perfect for her, and Gryffindore colors abound.

Ginny stood in a beautiful golden dress with a slightly poofy, ruffled and layered skirt. The top, and each layer was layered with silver floral designs. She'd pulled her firey red hair up into a basic bun, promising that it would look better the night of the actual ball. Long red gloves came up above her elbow, and beneath her dress, she wore a pair of golden high heels. Hermione couldn't see her as the 'little sister' in this dress. She looked stunning.

Even so, Hermione had made sure the dress wasn't too revealing, even if it was strapless. She was a bit overprotective, refusing to let her show any cleavage. Ginny wore another half-face mask, and this one was a beautiful red to match her gloves. The edges were golden lace, with golden beaads hanging down one side of her cheek. A large red and black feather swooped up over her head.

* * *

Parvati was next, because Hermione was still feeling a bit odd about trying on a bunch of dresses in front of the other girls. Of course, she cared mostly about Lavender's imput on her dress, but Hermione and Ginny still attempted to be helpful. Funnily enough, she continued with the trend of long dresses.

She wore a long Navy blue dress with a puffy skirt. Beautiful silver lace patterns were sewn into her dress, intricate ones completely covering the top of her gown, and larger patterns near the bottom of her skirt. Her dress ruffled, and the silver sparkled when she moved. White gloves met her elbows, and she wore silver flat shoes.

Interestingly enough, Parvati had managed to find a mask that matched her dress perfectly. Her hair was pulled half up, and the mask tied around her face with dark blue ribbon. The mask was the perfect shade to match her dress, covered with the same silver lace patterns. On side of the mask swept up like a wave above her forehead, and on that same side she had several large blue and black feathers.

* * *

Hermione went last. It was kind of funny what dress she'd ended up in. Honestly, she'd chosen it as an inside joke for her and Ginny, expecting to look the best in a gorgeous purple dress she had selected as well. That didn't happen. But, it really was just too pretty a dress on her to get something else.

Hermione was in another floor length gown, this one was form fitting until her mid thigh, when it spilled out into a loose skirt. The entire form fitting section had a beautiful ruffle texture, but the skirt was a lovely drape. Her dress was a gorgeous emerald green, except for the skirt. There, the top layer was Green, but pretty white lace did peek out at the front of her dress, from underneath in a nice triangle cut. A single white floral design crept its way up her left side, and a white lace 'belt' was directly below her bust. The dress was strapless, but completely modest, yet still managed to be stunning.

She had decided against gloves, and also went with simple green high heels. Wearing flats would be just embarrassing, she was only five foot five after all. She wore a thin silver headband, her loose curls pulled into an elegant side ponytail -thanks to Ginny.- Her mask, which covered only her eyes and nose, suited the shape of her face perfectly and was white, with loose green floral patterns creeping in from the edges. A green, sparkly flower and small green feathers were arranged nicely on the right side of her mask.

So there she stood, in Slytherin colors, wondering why she ended up in a green dress. She was a Gryffindore, she wasn't supposed to look good in green.

* * *

 **A/N:** Don't forget... You guys did ask for drama. I tried to make this a bit longer, and the whole dresses thing was simply for practice. My characters are pretty much always wearing the same thing, so I figured that you guys might like a little detail about their ball gowns. Let me know, much detail or less detail.

So, I have requests. For a surprise, pick a color. Review and let me know what you chose. I know what plot twist each color means, but you don't. In honor of the houses, red, yellow, green, or blue. Please vote for one, either way, it's going to be amazing! (At least, I hope so.) And, I know, I ask for reviews quite a lot, but I promise, this will be the last time for a while.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters or settings.

* * *

After all the girls had decided on their outfits, everyone collected their things and paid. Lavender and Parvati left in a rush, saying that they had somewhere to be. Meanwhile, Hermione stuck around and waited while Ginny worked something out with the shop keeper. After about ten minutes, they were both set, outfits in hand and out the door.

The two were laughing about some joke Ginny had told, when she ended up suggesting that they get hot cocoas before going back to Hogwarts. Hermione agreed, knowing that even if it was still fall, it was a bit chilly, and some cocoa could definitely help. So the two ducked into the three broomsticks. Ginny, knowing the owner quite well, handed Hermione her bags and headed off to order the cocoas.

Now, the bushy haired girl was stood in the doorway, struggling to hold two heavy ball gowns, two pairs of shoes, masks, gloves, and a few pieces of jewelry. Even so, Hermione glanced around the room. She'd always liked it in there, even if a pub might not be the best haunt for a teenage girl. It was a bit dark, but usually pretty quiet. The food was good, and she really did just like it there. The table in the far back corner had the most comfortable chairs, and was one of her favorite places to bring a book.

She waited by the door while Ginny was swept up into conversation with the woman behind the bar. Harmione, always being the curious one, scanned the tables with her eyes. Before she even realized what she was looking for, Hermione found it. Rather, him. Draco was in the Three Broomsticks. She had no idea what he was doing here. Draco never came in here. It felt like all the breath had been sucked out of the lungs suddenly, and she swept out the door into the cool fall air.

It took a minute for her to compose herself, leaning against the wall of the pub for fear of falling over. What was he even doing here? She didn't really care, but she knew he had seen her and it was just too much to deal with. The girl took another deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall, once again cursing herself for letting that Slytherin control her thoughts like this.

A few moments later, Ginny stepped outside with an apologetic smile. "I swear I didn't know he was going to be in there 'Mi. Do you want to to say anything to him?" her friend asked gently, her voice soft and gentle like Hermione would burst into tears with one wrong word.

Hemione shook her head quickly, taking her cocoa and handing Ginny her dress, shoes, and various other things they had purchased. Still holding the green gown on one arm, she took a sip of her cocoa and started walking back towards the school she so adored.

Seemingly by instinct, Hermione glanced over her shoulder, a couple hundred feet from the pub. Draco was coming out. Of course. Before she could look away, they made eye contact. She still couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling. She had never noticed how closed off he could get, especially if he didn't want to let you in. She had to look away when Ginny started talking to her though, hoping to distract herself and not think of him any longer.

They talked the whole way back to school, and surprisingly, Hermione's walk passed without any more thoughts of the blond boy.

* * *

The girls had ended up putting away their new clothes and then going to find Ron and Harry. Getting pulled to watch their Quidditch practice, completely skipping lunch, and actually racing in the halls. Hermione had never been too interested in childish games like this, but it was fun to just be with her friends again. After dinner though, she eagerly anticipated going to bed a reading her new book, then sleeping as long as she liked.

But, arriving back at her room, she noticed something on her bed, which she quickly picked up and brought into the bathroom, a bit nervous about opening it in front of the other girls.

It was a small white box, wrapped in a green ribbon. She had a feeling about who it was from, but highly doubted it. After all, how could he have gotten into the tower? And wouldn't she have noticed him missing from dinner? It was odd. But, either way, she took a deep breath and took off the ribbon, opening the box.

Inside was a note, written in simple black ink on parchment, and something metal underneath.

 _I always knew green was your color._

 _I'm sorry Hermione._

The note would have been enough, but as she lifted it to see what was underneath, Hermione gasped. Is was a beautiful charm on a silver chain. An intricate and detailed silver and green dragon curled around a golden flower. Now her suspicions had been confirmed. No one else could have given her something so beautiful and expensive looking. Something with a definite meaning that she did not miss.

Picking up the charm delicately, Hermione put the chain around her neck, realizing that it was long enough to, luckily, be hidden by her school robes. Now there would be no suspicious glances. She just stood, one hand still over the gorgeous necklace, for a moment, before heading back to her bedroom and tucking the box in a drawer.

She had decided to sleep in the beautiful necklace, so kept it on as she changed into her golden tank top and red pajama bottoms.

Hermione read for about an hour before finally going to sleep. For the first night that week, sleep came easily, and it took no more than a few minutes to fall asleep.

* * *

The next few weeks passed without any word from Draco. No glances sent her way, no conversations, no more mysteriously placed presents, nothing. And then, all to soon, it was time for the ball.

* * *

 **A/N:** You guys voted, and green won out (wonder why.) I know it seems a little bit worrisome right now, but I promise this story has a happy ending. And it was short, because mostly it was filler. But the ball should be pretty great. Please leave a review, they all mean a lot to me.

Now it's time for my explanation. These past few weeks have been really rough. My horse was put down, my dog was diagnosed with epilepsy, my grandmother had a stroke, it's just really been a lot to deal with. So, I do apologize for not adding more to this story. But hopefully that will change now.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable characters or settings.

* * *

Hermione woke up on Halloween, very happy it was a weekend. She was, very surprisingly, buzzing with excitement. Sure, she wanted to go, but it wasn't like her to get all giddy and excited about some party. But, after all, this was a first in Hogwarts history, and maybe, if they were lucky, it would become a tradition. Then she would have been at a legendary part of Hogwarts history. How cool is that?

Hermione had slept in that morning, letting her self sleep until nine. Luckily, breakfast on weekends always ran long, so she headed down the passageways and staircases, still in her pajamas, which showed a bit more skin than she was used to, but no more than her dress for this evening. Still just her typical tank top and fuzzy pants. She had not yet showered, and wrestled with her hair on the way into the great hall, trying to pet it into a low pony tail so that she didn't look like she'd been electrocuted.

"Ah, she lives." Ron teased as Hermione sat down, one arm around Lavendar's shoulders. He was, of course, eating in his typical way, stuffing as much food as he could into his mouth at once.

Hermione shot a playful glare over at the red head, sticking her tongue out as well before she pulled some food onto her plate. Since Draco had vanished from her life, Hermione had become much more goofy and carefree, which didn't really seem to fit her typical personality, but she had decided to take it as a good thing.

Everyone ate for at least another half hour until Lavendar stood up and declared that she, Parvati, Hermione, and Ginny needed to go get ready for the ball.

"Isn't it in, like, six hours? It can't possibly take us that long to get ready Lavendar." Ginny whined, obviously not ready to cut her breakfast somewhat short. Apparently she hadn't gotten up long before Hermione.

"Yes, but didn't you want to experiment with glamour charms? Come on!" Lavendar whined, pulling her friends up out of their seats.

Hermione trailed along after the group of girls, mouthing a silent _'Help me!'_ to Ron and Harry. Apparently they thought it was the funniest thing in the world, and did not believe their friend needed any help. But, trapped in a room with three squealing excited teenage girls for six hours? She definitely needed a rescue.

* * *

Hours later, Hermione sat on her bed in the dorm room, hoping she was in fact invisible. Lavender and Parvati were arguing over something and Ginny was no where to be seen. Apparently she had abandoned Hermione to deal with them alone. She sighed, turning the page of her book.

She had her gown on, so it seemed a bit silly to just sit on a bed and read a book like this. She wasn't used to wearing beautiful ball gowns and such, and felt almost uncomfortable. But, either way, she still had that necklace on. The colors actually went quite well with her outfit. She actually hadn't taken it off, except to shower, since she'd received the little white box.

Lavender had done the poor girl's hair and makeup earlier. Hermione had thought it to be a bit silly, after all, her mask would be covering half her face any way, but Lavender would not accept any excuses. She'd also used Sleekeasy's potion on her hair, causing it to fall in gentle curls rather than being uncontrollably bushy.

Hermione had considered doing a charm to change her hair color, but decided against it. She really did like her hair when it was like this. Other times, not so much. Finally, Lavender exclaimed that they should all go. Somehow, Ginny had managed to reappear at that very moment. The redhead was sneakier than Hermione gave her credit for.

Hermione stood, placing her book on the bed, wondering if she'd leave the ball early to come back and read. It sounded fun, but so did the ball, even if she wasn't much of a dancer. Hermione and Ginny linked arms as they headed down the moving staircases and long hallways.

The group of girls paused at the top of a staircase, waiting for the boys and getting ready to go into the Great Hall, which they could only assume had been decorated beautifully. It wasn't more than a few minutes before Ron and Harry met them, Ron taking Lavender's arm as they headed down the stairs.

Harry opened the heavy wooden doors and Hermione gasped in shock. It seemed like everything glittered beautifully. There was music playing, but not too loudly. Many students danced in the center of the room, the gorgeous, colorful dresses fanning out when they twirled. It was also a pleasant temperature, whereas Hermione had expected it to get stuffy with so many students dancing.

Ron and Lavender immediately split off from the group, Harry mumbling something about firewhiskey and disappearing into the sea of masks and dresses and jewelery. Hermione suddenly had a knot in her stomach. She'd been excited for this for so long, but it felt wrong to be there without Draco, which sounded silly. Even to her.

Ginny and Parvati, being the bravest in the girls' trio, went to dance, giggling, while Hermione went to get a drink, silently praying no one had spiked it. The last thing she needed tonight was to get drunk. She'd had alcohol a few times before, and if had been revealed that she was a sad drunk. Yet, no one would recognize her either way, so it probably didn't matter.

She ended up sitting at a small table, as the music played loudly, silently wishing she had had the sense to bring her book. It looked as if she'd simply be sitting the whole night, too nervous to get up and dance by herself. Wearing a mask was supposed to be liberating, and let you do things you wouldn't usually, but Hermione was still terrified of making a fool of herself. She may be a Gryffindore, but this was one fear she didn't often have the courage to face.

It was funny, as she looked around the room, she realized that the charm to stop them from recognizing each other worked quite well. The only reason she knew her friends, was because she helped them pick out their dresses. Everyone else though, she could see their hair and parts of their faces, but couldn't place who they were. It was like a word stuck on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach.

It was about an hour into the party, Hermione was still sitting in her chair, eating small bits of food and drinking punch. Ginny had come over and tried to get Hermione to dance a few times but but Hermione only said yes once or twice. She looked to be having so much fun, flitting about and dancing with various wizards and even a few witches. She hated to spoil her friend's fun.

Completely lost in thought, she hadn't even noticed when someone took her hand and started leading her towards the center of the Hall where most of the students were dancing. By the time she realized, the girl was halfway there.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Hermione exclaimed incredulously. She tried to glare at the wizard before her, but with the mask on her face, her expression carried much less weight.

Her turned to look at her and gave a small chuckle "Refusing to let you sit in the corner and hide any longer." He replied, completely matter of factly. The grin on his face gave a hint to the fact that he saw this as some game that was quite amusing.

At this point, Hermione so wished she could tell who this boy was, but it was still hiding from her, even if he looked just so familiar. "I can sit in the corner if I feel like it, you know. Go dance with someone else." She huffed, turning to go back to her table. She had no idea if this was some friend of hers playing a joke, or some random wizard who thought he'd sweep the 'shy, innocent' girl off her feet.

He paused for a moment, possibly deciding what to do next. Then the boy reached out and grabbed her wrist again, spinning the girl to face him. "Hermione wait. Please dance with me." The humor and stupid grin had vanished, and he seemed very upset that she had turned him down. Even hurt.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, seeming to consider his offer quite carefully. "One dance." She finally decided, not even totally sure why. Maybe it was pity. Or, the fact that he knew her name. She wasn't supposed to be recognizable, and he had called her Hermione. That thought definitely intrigued her. Being ever curious, Hermione wondered if she could figure out how this wizard had bypassed the charms.

He smiled, and once again started leading her towards the dancing. Once there, the two just swayed for a few minutes. Neither really said much but Hermione didn't mind. It was surprisingly comfortable. Definitely less awkward than the Yule Ball. Victor Krum hardly spoke to her. He really just stared. It was very uncomfortable.

Suddenly the boy leaned down. He was much taller than her, something the little Gryffindore hadn't quite realized. Hermione was a little worried that this boy was going to try and kiss her, but her didn't. His only goal was apparently to whisper something in her ear. "Did you like the necklace?"

Suddenly it all clicked. The reason he'd given her such a beautiful, unique gift. She knew exactly who this was. It was a bit embarrassing how happy that knowledge made her. And also how long it had taken her to realize. Maybe he didn't escort her to the masquerade, but he was there. And he'd chosen to dance with her. "Draco?!" She hissed, not wanting any nearby students to hear, just in case.

When the boy nodded, she threw her arms around his neck excitedly. Honestly Hermione had no idea why, she hadn't planned to. It just sort of happened. Like most of her interactions with the wonderful Slytherin. Her brain seemed to turn off, which didn't happen often happen to her. She was always about knowledge and logic, but around Draco all she worried about was her feelings, and what wonderful ones they were.

He laughed again, giving the girl a small kiss and spinning her in a circle. Hermione didn't often see him carefree like this, honestly, she never had. But apparently the guise of annononymity suited the pale boy. He was smiling, not grinning, not smirking, he was really smiling. And laughing too. She had never seen anything like it.

She felt like a stereotypical love struck teenager. Her arms around his neck as he spun her around in a circle. But even so, it was totally okay. There was something about this boy, and she just couldn't help it. She was honestly considering that she might be in love.

Suddenly, nothing mattered. Whenever she was with Draco in the past, it was magical. But there was always a nervousness pulling at her. What if someone found out? She'd be a laughingstock. Draco could get in trouble with his family. Any number of things coulds go wrong. It was never completely perfect. But this, just dancing with him, laughing and talking about random unimportant things, knowing that no one would ever find out. It was perfect. It was a moment that Hermione wanted to freeze, to make last forever. She loved this.

They danced the rest of the night, not worrying about the time, or the fact that many students had started filing out. The two were only made aware, when Hermione needed a drink, and realized not even Ginny was still around. The only ones still in the great Hall were a few couples. The music hadn't stopped, and a few professors were still chaperoning, but it must have been late. Very late.

Hermione looked at Draco in shock, he too apparently realizing that it was definitely time to go home. Funnily enough, they both began to laugh, and continued for a few minutes. Hermione was the first to quiet down enough to form words. "How did we not notice?! It's the middle of the night! I mean, ah!" She was kidding, but a bit nervous about her interrogation from Ginny tomorrow. She knew it was coming.

"I had no idea! We have to go back to our rooms, people will get suspicious." Draco said, a smile still on his face. Hermione loved that smile. She feared that she might never see it after that night. After all, he'd been distant lately. Who knows if this was a one time thing or not.

That thought was enough to make her pause. Instead of answering the wizard, Hermione took a step towards him, closing the already small distance between them. She put one hand on either side of the boy's face and kissed him, holding his cheeks delicately. She might never have the chance to do it again, and she was going to savor the moment.

It wasn't rough, but it was passionate. Draco wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling the girl as close as he could. Hermione could tell he was probably having the same feelings. Then, it was over. Hermione wasn't sure who broke it off, but, the moment had passed. She kissed him on the cheek gently, whispered goodnight, and left the Hall before Draco had a chance to respond.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello. What did you think about this? I wasn't totally sure about the ball, but I did my best. Please let me know your thoughts, and also tell me if like my longer or shorter chapters. Thanks for reading everybody. It means a lot.


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